Full Moon Party on Ko Pha-Ngan, Thailand
Thailand's equivalent of LA's Moontribe, processed with pills and prostitutes
Prostitutes, booze and music. Oh my! It must be a full moon.
So I'm dancing away at this club on the isle of Ko Samui to some admittedly terrible and cheesy eurotrance, but it's nothing several libations didn't distract me of. Soon, I found myself grooving with this really cute Thai girl. After a while, the house lights came up signaling the club's closure.
"Now I'll go back with you to your bungalow," she said out of nowhere.
"Okay!" I replied.
"...and you will pay me," she finished.
Oh no.
My own suggestions of no money being involved left her unconvinced and me alone. I'd like to say something clever like, "She didn't know what she was missing," but that probably isn't true. There was a whole lotta gropin' goin' on at the Green Mango that night.
Ah, Thailand...
Before I, ahem, got things warmed up in Thailand's south, my first stop was Bangkok's Tapas Room (www.tapas-cafe.com), a sweaty little house club appropriately nestled in Patpong- Bangkok's infamous sex district. Opportunities to hear quality house music while clubbing in Asia are rare. Fortunately, Emanuel Skinner, a San Francisco ex-pat and former roommate to Naked Music's Miguel Migs, is a capable man on the decks.
Skinner came to Asia looking for a little adventure. Unlike most travelers, he brought records simply hoping to get a little play and maybe some extra pocket money. With the Tapas Room, Skinner happily got more than he bargained for.
Hired on as resident DJ and promotions director, Skinner fostered the Tapas vibe as he saw fit. The result is west coast house, southeast Asian style. "No one knows there's house music in Bangkok," he says. "We want to put Bangkok on the map."
Effortlessly caressing between filtered disco, samba, tribal, Chicago cool and New York garage, there's little question of Skinner's skills. In San Fran, Skinner was but a number, one of hundreds of talented DJs scrabbling for a chance to play. In Bangkok, he's a hot commodity. He hopes to bring that same degree of distinction to his production work. House music from Thailand, he says, should pique peoples' interest.
Skinner is equally pleased to bring the city's clubbers a musical alternative to Thai MTV's pop saturation and psychedelic trance heard blaring from many nightspots. "Psy trance is the last music I'd want to hear if I was coming down," he says. "Too much of a head trip. I threw up at a buddy's place once because of it."
Now, it was time to head south. The night train to the port of Surrathani gave me an opportunity to catch up on my notes, recover from a sad hangover and rationalize eating a bug I bought from a street vendor-God, was I tanked. Like most things in Thailand, a train's sleeper car is pretty cheap and I recommend it. Having had the misfortune of taking the bus once, train or plane is definitely the way to go.
A train, a bus, a ferry and taxi ride later, I'm on the isle of Ko Samui for a meeting with Warren Burgart, the man behind www.thaisite.com. Burgart's Full Moon Party portion of the site has inadvertently become the voice of the parties. And Burgart, to his bemusement, is now regarded as an authority on the event. Or, rather...
"A Full Moon Party is not an event," he explains. "It's a happening. There are no controlling organizations, no Full Moon committees. Everybody knows, 'I'm going to the beach, I'm going to party.'" While there are many Full Moon fan sites on the net, Burgart's is the only one offering any sort of organized forum. However, being an "authority" has at times proven to be a double-edged sword.
"We get tons of requests from DJs and managers requesting auditions or bookings," he says. "It's an impossibility. There are always DJs showing up with records. Many times, they're left unhappy as they didn't get to play." That, however, doesn't mean the parties haven't attracted their share of talent; German techno giant Sven Väth played a happening this past February. But Burgart stresses, hoping to save hopefuls hassles, Väth made prior arrangements with bar owners and didn't just show up expecting to play.
Any other big DJs ever play a Full Moon Party? Burgart shrugs his shoulders. He's hardly an electronic aficionado. Like Skinner, Burgart left the states for Thailand looking for change. Having been in data processing for 30 years (Burgart is in his '50s), he decided a leave of absence was in order. "I rented a house for a year and had intentions of playing my guitar and learning a bit about the Internet," he says. However, only days after moving in, he and a newfound neighbor hatched plans for thaisite.com. Originally just snapping pics of the Full Moon parties for fun, the work has culminated in the largest, most visited and most updated Full Moon Party website.
What little information Burgart has about the parties' origins is vague. The parties began over 15 years ago, but who to credit with starting the craze is unclear. Equally difficult to ascertain are attendance figures. Burgart has fruitlessly tried counting portions of the beach during parties, but says it's impossible to get exact numbers. Typical estimates are between 4,000 to 8,000 people.
Saying goodbye to Burgart, I met up with a friend and we made our way to a ferry bound for Ko Pha-Ngan's Haad Rinn beach, home to the Full Moon Parties. Even with a couple days until the party, we arrived too late; the bungalows were booked solid. The dregs, far from the main beach, were despicably unkempt and exorbitant at 700 Baht a night-roughly $15 U.S. Very high by Thai standards for such sub-par accommodations.
We resigned ourselves to Mae Haad beach on the island's north tip. Had we been more on the ball, we might have gotten a place at Haad Rinn, though I'm told few of the bungalows accept reservations. Our bungalow complex eventually filled up with would-be-revelers that ran into the same predicament we did. A taxi from one end of the island to the other should only run you about 100 Baht, anyway.
Finally, the Full Moon! Giddy with anticipation, we set out onto the beach in the early evening. Last minute preparations were still underway. Thai boys pounded stakes into the ground to hold down lights and decorations. Older Thai women set up tables that would sell everything from sandwiches to pizza to fried chicken to more traditional Thai cuisine. Glow-in-the-dark paint artists awaited human canvasses. Happening or event, the Full Moon parties represent an obvious routine for the Thai residents. Burgart guesses most of their revenue is generated on or around the party and they coast on those earnings until the next one.
You may not have lived until you've had a bucket of Sang Tip whiskey, Coke and Red Bull on the beaches of Thailand. Maybe, but too many of them and you'll likely feel as though you've died the day after. If it's alcoholic, you'll find it. If it's narcotic, well, you can find that, too. But drugs are illegal in Thailand, and carry hefty fines and imprisonment. While some locals do sell drugs, more of them will be inclined to turn you in should they see a deal going down-something they receive rewards for. Like anything else, be careful, be smart and don't say you weren't warned.
Drunk, the truly international and inspirational event unfolded around me. An Aussie rules football club bellowed, hooted and whistled at girls as they passed. Israeli fire dancers twirled batons for onlookers. Sullen German men brandished fearful looking tattoos. Thai "ladyboys"-you'll know them when you see them-garnered stares and kisses from confused and inebriated foreigners. A sloshed Norwegian attempted to explain the intricacies of life to me. He lost his train of thought every other sentence, but he did remember to order us more beer. A couple of Canadian girls locked lips for my picture of them. Afterwards, they told me they weren't even gay. The Full Moon brings out the best in everyone, I suppose.
Audio warfare sees every bar blaring its own music, so you have to seek out those sweet spots on the beach between clubs where you're getting one consistent sound. While there was a lot of variety-techno, house, psy trance, trance and progressive-the biggest surprise was Drop In Bar, whose music was total shit. But of all the clubs, it had the biggest crowd.
Should you go, take a step back from the festivities on one the beach's rocky promontories or wade knee-deep in the warm waters of the Gulf of Thailand. The Full Moon Party is sheer spectacle. The beach looked fantastic at night, illuminated by Christmas lights, bon fires, glow sticks and madness. The warm night was overcast, but when the moon peeked through for the briefest of moments, the entire beach erupted in jubilation. Now that's magic.
by Yuri Wuensch 2007
Thailand's equivalent of LA's Moontribe, processed with pills and prostitutes
Prostitutes, booze and music. Oh my! It must be a full moon.
So I'm dancing away at this club on the isle of Ko Samui to some admittedly terrible and cheesy eurotrance, but it's nothing several libations didn't distract me of. Soon, I found myself grooving with this really cute Thai girl. After a while, the house lights came up signaling the club's closure.
"Now I'll go back with you to your bungalow," she said out of nowhere.
"Okay!" I replied.
"...and you will pay me," she finished.
Oh no.
My own suggestions of no money being involved left her unconvinced and me alone. I'd like to say something clever like, "She didn't know what she was missing," but that probably isn't true. There was a whole lotta gropin' goin' on at the Green Mango that night.
Ah, Thailand...
Before I, ahem, got things warmed up in Thailand's south, my first stop was Bangkok's Tapas Room (www.tapas-cafe.com), a sweaty little house club appropriately nestled in Patpong- Bangkok's infamous sex district. Opportunities to hear quality house music while clubbing in Asia are rare. Fortunately, Emanuel Skinner, a San Francisco ex-pat and former roommate to Naked Music's Miguel Migs, is a capable man on the decks.
Skinner came to Asia looking for a little adventure. Unlike most travelers, he brought records simply hoping to get a little play and maybe some extra pocket money. With the Tapas Room, Skinner happily got more than he bargained for.
Hired on as resident DJ and promotions director, Skinner fostered the Tapas vibe as he saw fit. The result is west coast house, southeast Asian style. "No one knows there's house music in Bangkok," he says. "We want to put Bangkok on the map."
Effortlessly caressing between filtered disco, samba, tribal, Chicago cool and New York garage, there's little question of Skinner's skills. In San Fran, Skinner was but a number, one of hundreds of talented DJs scrabbling for a chance to play. In Bangkok, he's a hot commodity. He hopes to bring that same degree of distinction to his production work. House music from Thailand, he says, should pique peoples' interest.
Skinner is equally pleased to bring the city's clubbers a musical alternative to Thai MTV's pop saturation and psychedelic trance heard blaring from many nightspots. "Psy trance is the last music I'd want to hear if I was coming down," he says. "Too much of a head trip. I threw up at a buddy's place once because of it."
Now, it was time to head south. The night train to the port of Surrathani gave me an opportunity to catch up on my notes, recover from a sad hangover and rationalize eating a bug I bought from a street vendor-God, was I tanked. Like most things in Thailand, a train's sleeper car is pretty cheap and I recommend it. Having had the misfortune of taking the bus once, train or plane is definitely the way to go.
A train, a bus, a ferry and taxi ride later, I'm on the isle of Ko Samui for a meeting with Warren Burgart, the man behind www.thaisite.com. Burgart's Full Moon Party portion of the site has inadvertently become the voice of the parties. And Burgart, to his bemusement, is now regarded as an authority on the event. Or, rather...
"A Full Moon Party is not an event," he explains. "It's a happening. There are no controlling organizations, no Full Moon committees. Everybody knows, 'I'm going to the beach, I'm going to party.'" While there are many Full Moon fan sites on the net, Burgart's is the only one offering any sort of organized forum. However, being an "authority" has at times proven to be a double-edged sword.
"We get tons of requests from DJs and managers requesting auditions or bookings," he says. "It's an impossibility. There are always DJs showing up with records. Many times, they're left unhappy as they didn't get to play." That, however, doesn't mean the parties haven't attracted their share of talent; German techno giant Sven Väth played a happening this past February. But Burgart stresses, hoping to save hopefuls hassles, Väth made prior arrangements with bar owners and didn't just show up expecting to play.
Any other big DJs ever play a Full Moon Party? Burgart shrugs his shoulders. He's hardly an electronic aficionado. Like Skinner, Burgart left the states for Thailand looking for change. Having been in data processing for 30 years (Burgart is in his '50s), he decided a leave of absence was in order. "I rented a house for a year and had intentions of playing my guitar and learning a bit about the Internet," he says. However, only days after moving in, he and a newfound neighbor hatched plans for thaisite.com. Originally just snapping pics of the Full Moon parties for fun, the work has culminated in the largest, most visited and most updated Full Moon Party website.
What little information Burgart has about the parties' origins is vague. The parties began over 15 years ago, but who to credit with starting the craze is unclear. Equally difficult to ascertain are attendance figures. Burgart has fruitlessly tried counting portions of the beach during parties, but says it's impossible to get exact numbers. Typical estimates are between 4,000 to 8,000 people.
Saying goodbye to Burgart, I met up with a friend and we made our way to a ferry bound for Ko Pha-Ngan's Haad Rinn beach, home to the Full Moon Parties. Even with a couple days until the party, we arrived too late; the bungalows were booked solid. The dregs, far from the main beach, were despicably unkempt and exorbitant at 700 Baht a night-roughly $15 U.S. Very high by Thai standards for such sub-par accommodations.
We resigned ourselves to Mae Haad beach on the island's north tip. Had we been more on the ball, we might have gotten a place at Haad Rinn, though I'm told few of the bungalows accept reservations. Our bungalow complex eventually filled up with would-be-revelers that ran into the same predicament we did. A taxi from one end of the island to the other should only run you about 100 Baht, anyway.
Finally, the Full Moon! Giddy with anticipation, we set out onto the beach in the early evening. Last minute preparations were still underway. Thai boys pounded stakes into the ground to hold down lights and decorations. Older Thai women set up tables that would sell everything from sandwiches to pizza to fried chicken to more traditional Thai cuisine. Glow-in-the-dark paint artists awaited human canvasses. Happening or event, the Full Moon parties represent an obvious routine for the Thai residents. Burgart guesses most of their revenue is generated on or around the party and they coast on those earnings until the next one.
You may not have lived until you've had a bucket of Sang Tip whiskey, Coke and Red Bull on the beaches of Thailand. Maybe, but too many of them and you'll likely feel as though you've died the day after. If it's alcoholic, you'll find it. If it's narcotic, well, you can find that, too. But drugs are illegal in Thailand, and carry hefty fines and imprisonment. While some locals do sell drugs, more of them will be inclined to turn you in should they see a deal going down-something they receive rewards for. Like anything else, be careful, be smart and don't say you weren't warned.
Drunk, the truly international and inspirational event unfolded around me. An Aussie rules football club bellowed, hooted and whistled at girls as they passed. Israeli fire dancers twirled batons for onlookers. Sullen German men brandished fearful looking tattoos. Thai "ladyboys"-you'll know them when you see them-garnered stares and kisses from confused and inebriated foreigners. A sloshed Norwegian attempted to explain the intricacies of life to me. He lost his train of thought every other sentence, but he did remember to order us more beer. A couple of Canadian girls locked lips for my picture of them. Afterwards, they told me they weren't even gay. The Full Moon brings out the best in everyone, I suppose.
Audio warfare sees every bar blaring its own music, so you have to seek out those sweet spots on the beach between clubs where you're getting one consistent sound. While there was a lot of variety-techno, house, psy trance, trance and progressive-the biggest surprise was Drop In Bar, whose music was total shit. But of all the clubs, it had the biggest crowd.
Should you go, take a step back from the festivities on one the beach's rocky promontories or wade knee-deep in the warm waters of the Gulf of Thailand. The Full Moon Party is sheer spectacle. The beach looked fantastic at night, illuminated by Christmas lights, bon fires, glow sticks and madness. The warm night was overcast, but when the moon peeked through for the briefest of moments, the entire beach erupted in jubilation. Now that's magic.
by Yuri Wuensch 2007
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